Dicksbits

it strikes me that at this time the airline is very concentrated on revenue raising (stating the obvious) .. therefore maximising cash intake and cutting costs are a top priority - offering POUGs for what essentially might be an empty seat makes sense. As has been pointed out before, the meal probably costs them £1, the bar is negligible in the grand scheme of things. During school holidays with maximum traffic I suppose the strategy has been to take this to the limits.

krispy84

I think the old chestnut of whether there is sufficient demand for a US/Asia style J product in Europe is open for debate, there may possibly. (Though it is worth pointing out that NA, Asia and Europe are distinct markets with historical, geographical and logistical differences).

The problem is the huge risk an existing airline would be taking in launching it and the barriers to entry for a new player in the market. Even if it is a relative success, does it make more money than the flexible-J offering does currently? I can’t see any airline board signing off on it.

nufnuf77

i ended up booking for tomorrow - last row of 8 row CE to CFU

Colesmore

I can't see it working unless everyone (the big players across Europe) migrate to it or hint at it. Being an Aussie I've seen the vast difference in cost of reclining seats (or lie flat) in comparison to economy, and for me (and I'm sure a number of other people) it just isn't worth it. I've only ever paid business in Australia once (status run) and have redeemed maybe half a dozen trips over 5 years. Having been in the UK for two years I've only flown full service economy once, with the rest paid (or redeemed) business.

If the costs are comparable, then sure I'd go for it, but as this thread highlights they'll be shooting themselves in the foot on increasing flexibility and I think that'll outweigh the reclining seat option. Presumably the airlines agree. They're not daft (well, you know what I mean)

Camflyer

TFS is October is showing as 14 CE rows on the way out and 12 CE on the way back.

Exsilver

Flew to MLA on Friday. All 56 CE seats filled, crew frazzled and complaining. They ran out of champagne and white wine about 2 hours into the flight.

Bobbie2013

Appreciate that it may change/may be blocking but my upcoming LCY-Nice flight on Friday (on a E190) is showing rows 1-10 as Club with the majority of seats taken. That’s potentially 40 out of the 100 seats on the plane!

nufnuf77

not to mention that shamelessly BA unlike any other European airline doesn’t block seats on E190 so it’s 2-2 for everyone!

Will100

And why wouldn’t they?

The unions job is to milk what they can for employees.

Will100

Did Mykonos with 10-11 rows last week.

Well worth it on a 4 hour flight. Goes in a flash with a chicken pie, a few wines and a Bloody Mary. Love it.

BJ787

Not helping matters with large cabins, today on LHR-MAN Champagne was being poured from large bottles from the front galley massively slowing down an already shockingly poor delivery. Many people got their club meals on 10 minutes to landing for just long enough to sniff before having them taken away, my other half in row 1 never got a drink because the IFM was too busy - 'sure, give me a minute' in response to the initial request and 'sorry we're really busy, it's too late now' when chased 10 minutes later just as they'd started to clear in.

(Crisps and water weren't fully delivered down the back either)

Dicksbits

isn’t the improved catering meant to compensate for the lack of empty middle seat and lounge? 🤔

Dicksbits

Aren’t the crews trained to serve very busy, full cabins?

nufnuf77

It seems ordering special meals guarantees a better service as our meals tend to always be delivered first and drinks get replenished often

PGberkshire

And a better meal